This picture was taken of Ethan sitting at our dining table in Shanghai. That hat belongs to David and David used to wear it in Australia. We didn't see it for two years after we moved to China and wondered what had happened to it. Then when I was cleaning the garage for our move to India I found the hat! It was inside it's original packing box. I guess I didn't unpack that box very well.
Ethan at early morning seminary in Shanghai. During Ethan's first 6 months of seminary he has done early morning, home study and online! Ha! Who would have thought his first year of seminary would start with early morning classes in China and end with online classes in India. If anybody needs a comparison between the three modes of seminary, Ethan's your man.
These pictures are taken in Himachal Pradesh while Ethan was on a school camp. If you are wondering why Ethan is bare foot it is because they were visiting a temple. Ethan has much better pictures on his instagram of mountain hikes and some beautiful views.
Brace yourself for the next couple of pictures.
On November 10 (those who know David well will understand the significance of that date) Ethan was at school at a Model United Nations conference. The MUN conference had finished and Ethan was playing soccer on the school field with some friends. While attempting a soccer move he managed to fall over the ball and do this to his ankle.
David and the girls were at a missionary fireside. I was at home and received a call from a teacher telling me that he was taking Ethan to the hospital because Ethan had hurt his foot. At this point nobody understood the severity of what had happened, because Ethan's pain reactions are quite subdued. He's very calm - I remember taking him to get stitches when he was 6/7 and he lay completely quietly and still while the Dr worked (opposite of me). I spoke to Ethan on the phone and there was a bit of a whimper in his voice and he was doing a bit of heavy breathing, but held a conversation with me and told me he'd be ok. By comparison, we have seen Erica give a much stronger response to having a splinter in her toe. Later after finding out the prognosis the teacher sent me a note marvelling at how calm Ethan was, because another student had had a near identical injury last year with a lot more yelling.
I called David and asked him to go straight to the hospital, which he did. The doctors looked at Ethan (before an x-ray) and said it was probably dislocated and that there would be some pain to pop it back in place. They ordered an x-ray and when that came back they immediately called the on-call orthopaedic surgeon. David had now arrived at the hospital.
The orthopaedic surgeon indicated that they would need to move the bones in Ethan's ankle back into place. He gave him some pain killers and started working. Ethan sat bolt upright and starting yelling at them, because this apparently was REALLY painful. They then gave him some other drug which took away the pain, but made him totally loopy. David said that Ethan sat bolt upright again and yelled out "I feel high, but I didn't smoke weed, I don't smoke weed!" Then Ethan started talking at rapid-speed about Model United Nations.
He spent a couple of very uncomfortable nights at the hospital before having a surgery where the surgeon put a titanium plate in his ankle. The surgery went well and there has been no infection (which is more of a problem here).
We were all very relieved when Ethan was discharged. Either David or myself had to be with Ethan at all times at the hospital. David slept at the hospital during the night (he had a bed in the same room - and fortunately it was a private room). I took the girls to school in the morning and then stayed with Ethan during the day at the hospital. At that time David went to work for a shortened work-day before leaving to pick up the girls from school. Then I took the girls home, while David took over again at the hospital. There are some interesting contrasts to Australian hospitals. If you push the nurse call button somebody actually comes running. But the nurses often seemed to be less capable than their Australian counterparts (hence why it's a good idea to have somebody with you at all times). We had positive experiences with the Doctors we came across, who seemed to be well-experienced, professional and with good bedside manner.
Ethan had two weeks at home, which he wasn't too disappointed about. His teachers sent home work, but he was doing much less than he normally would. He then returned to school and sat his make-up tests and somehow got excellent results?! Ethan had a cast for a while, and then was transitioned to an air cast/walking boot.
This is Ethan in bed wearing his air cast. Not the most comfortable way to sleep. He has healed well and is now allowed to walk unaided. He is still a bit stiff and isn't quite walking normally. He has lost some muscle mass in both legs, but particularly the broken one. He is having physiotherapy and doing exercises for all of this. Down the track he will need another surgery to remove the plate.
All of this happened about 7 weeks out from a Christmas vacation we had already booked. We toyed with cancelling, but the Dr said Ethan would be fine to travel. I then set about trying to make the holiday as disability-friendly as possible. It's is a lot of work to plan most of our trips, but adding in a disability is a whole lot more complicated. I have a much greater appreciation now for what it takes to travel with a disability. I also have a much greater appreciation for companies who genuinely take this into account and try to help.
Two of the airlines gave us poor experiences - one very poor. They both had me get 4 page medical reports completed by our surgeon and sent to them. One of those airlines contacted me and asked me to do it again, because they didn't understand something that I personally thought was not at all difficult to understand. That same airline then called me to ask me to re-send the exact same documentation to them again in a few weeks, when it would then be five days before the flight. I enquired why this was necessary. I was told that this was so the staff member would remember to do something about it?! I was a bit frustrated at this point and enquired if they could use a calendar or set a reminder for themself! Apparently not, and I had to resend the documentation later.
I wouldn't overly mind all of that if it had actually resulted in an outcome. However, neither of those airlines actually managed to put a note in our booking, and many times Ethan wasn't assisted in the ways his surgeon had requested (wheel chair availability in the airports, boarding first or last with minimal standing in lines). I sent an email to the particularly poor airline about the experience and they never replied!
I can say that Swiss Air was great. They didn't ask for any of the lengthy (and evidently useless) documentation. They actually made a note in the booking and the check-in agent actually knew what was needed etc. Celebrity cruises were also very good. Burj Khalifa in Dubai were also great, with well-trained staff who automatically took Ethan through the fastest routes and through different elevators to help him avoid standing for too long. Also Dubai Mall and the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi were fantastic with free wheelchairs for loan. We were fairly fortunate that most of our trip was spent in the UAE because they are very disability-friendly there.
On a final note, Ethan is still enjoying playing the piano. He is also playing bass clarinet at school.
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